The data are from a suite of friction experiments performed on 3 different grain size quartz gouges (5, 15 and 30 microns). The quartz gouge layers were sheared under a range of effective normal stresses (40-120 MPa), at a displacement rate of 1 micron/s, and the evolution of shear stress was monitored with increasing displacement (up to a maximum displacement of 8.5 mm). The gouges typically exhibit a transition from stable sliding, where the gouge layers shear in a continuous smooth fashion, to unstable sliding with displacement, where the gouges exhibit stick-slip behaviour. The transition from stable to unstable sliding occurs more efficiently in fine-grained quartz gouges and is promoted by high effective normal stresses.